link to page 1 link to page 1 link to page 1 link to page 1 
Updated May 18, 2018
Calculation and Use of the Disaster Relief Allowable Adjustment
The Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25, hereinafter the BCA)
Figure 1. Disaster Relief Data and Calculation of the
established a set of limits on federal spending, as well as a
Allowable Adjustment for FY2018
set of mechanisms to adjust those limits to accommodate
(in billions of nominal dollars of budget authority)
spending that has special priority. One of these
mechanisms—a limited “allowable adjustment” to
discretionary spending limits to pay for the congressionally
designated costs of major disasters under the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
(P.L. 100-707; hereinafter “the Stafford Act”)—represented
a new approach to paying for disaster relief. In the past,
while a portion of funding for disaster costs had been
included in annual appropriations measures as part of the
regular funding process, a large portion of these costs had
frequently been designated as an emergency requirement
and included in supplemental appropriations measures on
an ad hoc basis. This new disaster relief designation
allowed a limited amount of additional appropriations for
disaster costs into the annual appropriations process, instead
of relying on emergency designations and supplemental
appropriations bills.
Calculating the Maximum Allowable
Adjustment for Disaster Relief
The maximum size of the allowable adjustment, as defined
in 2 U.S.C. §901(b)(2)(D), is based on a modified 10-year
rolling average of disaster relief appropriations calculated
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Annually, through FY2018, OMB has reviewed the past 10
years of disaster relief appropriations. For fiscal years prior
to FY2012, OMB identified appropriations associated with
major disaster declarations for use in the calculation. For
FY2012 and later years, OMB relied on explicit
congressional designations of appropriations as disaster
relief pursuant to the BCA. The top half of Figure 1 shows
the appropriations amounts used for FY2001-FY2018 and
Source: CRS analysis of data from OMB sequestration reports.
the allowable adjustment calculated for FY2012-FY2018.
Notes: DRBA=Disaster Relief Budget Authority.
The average is calculated disregarding the high and low
Figure 2. The Effect of Carryover on the Disaster
funding years in the 10-year data set. If Congress does not
Relief Allowable Adjustment FY2012-FY2018
fully exercise the allowable adjustment, the unused portion
(in billions of nominal dollars of budget authority)
can be rolled forward into the next fiscal year—however, in
calculations for FY2012-FY2018, this “carryover” expired
if unused in the next fiscal year. The bottom half of Figure
1 shows how the adjustment for FY2018 was calculated.
The annual totals of disaster relief budget authority used in
calculating the FY2018 allowable adjustment are darker.
The Effect of One-Year Carryover
A more detailed look at the years FY2012-FY2018 in
Figure 2 shows the impact of this one-year carryover in
greater detail. While carryover allowed for slightly greater
use of the allowable adjustment than the rolling average
alone would have in FY2013 and FY2017, when roughly
$12 billion in carryover was available in FY2015 and
Source: CRS analysis of data from OMB reports.
FY2016, it expired unused.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
link to page 2 link to page 2 
Calculation and Use of the Disaster Relief Allowable Adjustment
Changes to the Calculation
the Department of Transportation; and the Community
Section 102 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Division
Development Fund at HUD.
O, modified the calculation of the maximum size of the
disaster relief allowable adjustment in two ways: unused
Figure 3. Appropriations with Disaster Relief
adjustment from prior fiscal years would no longer expire,
Designations by Departments, FY2012-FY2018
and a portion of the disaster relief funding that does not
(in billions of nominal dollars of budget authority)
carry a disaster relief designation would be added to the
maximum allowable adjustment, starting in FY2018.
Originally, OMB’s calculations of the allowable adjustment
did not include funding for major disasters pursuant to the
Stafford Act after FY2012 that was designated as an
emergency requirement. For example, Division B of P.L.
115-56 (the FY2017 supplemental appropriation in the
wake of Hurricane Harvey) included $15.25 billion in
emergency-designated funding for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD), and the Small Business
Administration (SBA). Despite the fact that the $14.8
billion of funding for FEMA and HUD was specifically for
the costs of major disasters under the Stafford Act, it would
Source: CRS analysis of data from appropriations legislation.
not have contributed to the calculation of future allowable
adjustments because it carried an emergency designation,
Congressional Considerations
rather than the disaster relief designation.
Should the Calculation Use Different Data?
This was not an isolated occurrence: in four of the seven
The BCA required OMB to calculate annual costs of
fiscal years since the enactment of the Budget Control Act,
activities carried out pursuant to declaration of a major
over $125 billion in emergency-designated spending
disaster under the Stafford Act, and report on it to
pursuant to Stafford Act major disasters was appropriated
congressional committees within 30 days. OMB
above the allowable adjustment for disaster relief.
acknowledges that their methodology only captured
appropriations where bill or report language specifically
Section 102 allows 5% of emergency-designated disaster
attributed costs to a specific disaster declaration, or
relief provided after FY2011 to be added to the allowable
specifically to major disasters declared under the Stafford
adjustment. OMB reported that this change would add
Act, resulting in an undercount of total disaster relief costs.
$6.296 billion to the maximum allowable adjustment
calculated for FY2019, the basis of which will be in OMB’s
Accounting for federal spending on disasters with precision
August 2018 sequestration update report.
is difficult, due to a lack of data. If Congress seeks to link
How Has the Allowable Adjustment for
the size of the allowable adjustment more closely to the
Disaster Relief Been Used?
actual costs of major disasters, it may consider changes to
the BCA’s method of calculating a potential adjustment and
While in some years the disaster relief designation and the
the disaster spending data that underlies it. These changes
allowable adjustment it triggers has solely been used to
might include instituting a congressional disaster relief
make appropriations to FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund
designation distinct from budgetary relief, or requiring
(DRF) as part of the regular appropriations process, the
reporting by federal agencies on disaster-related spending.
designation has also been used to make appropriations to
various federal departments with roles in response to and
What Happens After the Adjustment Ends?
recovery from major disasters. Figure 3 provides a
The allowable adjustment mechanism expires with the
breakdown of the uses of the disaster relief designation and
expiration of the BCA discretionary budget caps in
allowable adjustment funding by department or office.
FY2021. Congress may consider continuing this
mechanism into the future, but such an action would require
As Figure 3 shows, aside from the DRF (funded through
legislative action.
DHS), the disaster relief designation has been applied to
appropriations for five other government departments.
For More Information
Three appropriations to the Department of Agriculture have
For more information on the disaster relief allowable
received funding with the disaster relief designation: the
adjustment and some of the issues facing Congress as it
Emergency Conservation Program; the Emergency Forest
nears expiration in FY2021, see CRS Report R44415, Five
Restoration Program; and the Emergency Watershed
Years of the Budget Control Act’s Disaster Relief
Protection Program. The Department of Defense funding
Adjustment, coordinated by William L. Painter.
listed is for three separate accounts in the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers’ Civil Works Program. Other recipients of the
William L. Painter, Specialist in Homeland Security and
designation include Economic Development Assistance
programs at the Department of Commerce, the Federal
Appropriations
Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program at
IF10720
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Calculation and Use of the Disaster Relief Allowable Adjustment
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10720 · VERSION 6 · UPDATED